Men's lifestyle company Thrillist has hired its first-ever president, Philippe Guelton.
Guelton will oversee everything from content to consumer facing technology. Co-founders Ben Lerer and Adam Rich are keeping their titles of CEO and Editor-in-Chief respectively, but some of the departments that reported to them will now be reporting to Guelton.
"I felt there was a real gap in my knowledge and at some point it was going to rear its ugly head," says Lerer. "Guelton really understood what was going on. He understands the brand and how to build brands."
Thrillist is coming off of a year of intense growth. Last year its revenue tripled from $10-15 million to more than $30 million. It acquired an online retailer, JackThreads, which now generates more for Thrillist in one day than it did in an entire month in 2010. Its members have grown from 500,000 to 1.5 million too. Thrillist/Rewards subscriptions have grown from 2 million to three million in the past year.
Guelton is an angel investor who also consulted the CEO and President of publishing giant Hearst. At Thrillist, Guelton says he'll be very product-focused.
He says he was drawn to Thrillist because he feels the company represents the future of media, having successfully married commerce and content.
"I'm amazed how nimble Ben has been," says Guelton. "He's raised $2 million to date and come all this way. In terms of future external growth I think the sky is the limit."